History Recap / TheSimpsonsS5E5TreehouseOfHorrorIV

* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: Happens three times in the Jury of the Damned:
** First, UsefulNotes/RichardNixon and the starting line-up of the 1976 Philadelphia Flyers, were still alive at the time the episode premiered.[[note]]Nixon even says he's not dead, but it's implied that he's in debt because he made a DealWithTheDevil (whether it was to be U.S. President or to not be implicated in the Watergate scandal, or both) because of Devil Flanders' line, "Hey, I did a favor for you!"[[/note]]
** Second, all jury members have done criminal deeds that are legally punishable: Benedict Arnold (treason), UsefulNotes/LizzieBorden (murder), Richard Nixon (surveillance spying, lying under Presidential oath, obstructing justice), John Wilkes Booth (murder), UsefulNotes/{{Blackbeard}} (piracy), John Dillinger (armed robbery). However, the 1976 Philadelphia Flyers are only there for [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking being a famously brutal hockey team]] and, for the record, it was never actually proven that Lizzie Borden murdered anyone, but popular opinion and American folklore have branded Borden a murderer.
** Third, though not a real example of this trope it should be mentioned anyway: most of the Jury members are people from US history. Blackbeard (Edward Teach) was born in England, and mostly roamed the Caribbean during his life.

Some time later, the family is traveling at night to Pennsylvania, where Burns has invited them to dinner. At the manor, there's even more obvious evidence of Burns being a vampire (i.e.: he mentions the family being "fresh victims of his ever-growing army of the undead" over the entrance's intercom, his shadow has a life of its own, the "punch" served is blood, etc.) but only Lisa notices. Lisa "accidentally" spills the "punch" on Bart and her and they head off to get cleaned up. As they head back they discover Burns' vampire lair (oddly easily accessible) and investigate. As Lisa looks through Burns' autobiography ''Yes I Am a Vampire'', Burns' vampire minions rise and advance on the two. The kids flee but Bart stops when he sees a lever for a "Super Happy Fun Slide". Knowing it's a trap, Bart pulls it anyway and slides back down into the lair...where a group of vampires are waiting for him. A vampire woman pulls him off the slide and pins him down as the rest of the undead minions gather around him and bare their fangs menacingly. A bat soon flies in who morphs into Mr. Burns himself and Bart is presented to him to which Burns waste no time feeding on.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Lisa and Bart find Burns' crypt and the vampires within, whom awaken at their presence. They run, but Bart finds a lever noted as "Super Happy Fun Slide". Despite knowing what a stupid idea it is, he pulls it anyway which turns the staircase into a slide. Unsurprisingly, he ends up sliding back into the crypt where the vampires grab him and Burns bites Bart and turns him into a vampire.

** The "Super Happy Fun Slide" in Mr. Burns' lair. Bart lampshades this, knowing full well it's a trap.

* ContentWarning: This is the first Treehouse episode not to have Marge's warning in the cold open. Instead, Marge interrupts Bart's introduction to tell everyone this episode is very scary and maybe instead they could listen to the ''Radio/WarOfTheWorlds'' on Radio/{{NPR}}.

* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Bart is not impressed by the coffins in the basement of Mr. Burns' castle.
--> '''Bart:''' Big deal! [[BlackComedy It's no different from the basement in Grandpa's rest home.]]

-->'''Chief Wiggum''': Don't worry, boys. He's gotta come out of there sometime.

-->'''Homer''': I'm smarter than the Devil! I'm smarter than the Devil!\\

'''Flanders''': ''(Booming voice)'' YOU ARE ''NOT'' SMARTER THAN ME!!!\\
'''Homer''': Eep!\\
'''Flanders''': I'LL SEE YOU IN HELL YET, HOMER SIMPSON!!!

-->'''Lionel Hutz''': ''(Using a fork as a comb)'' Mr. Simpson, don't you worry, I watched ''Series/{{Matlock}}'' in a bar last night. The sound wasn't on, but I think I got the gist of it.

--> '''Nixon''': But I'm not dead yet! In fact I just wrote an article for Redbook.
--> '''Devil Flanders''': Hey listen, I did a favor for ''you''.
--> '''Nixon''': ''(Meekly)'' Yes, master.

--->'''Flanders''': ''Hidilly-ho, Bart!''\\
'''Bart''': ''[screams]''

-->'''Homer''': Oh, Lisa, you and your stories: Bart's a vampire, beer kills brain cells. Now let's go back to [[BuffySpeak that... building... thingie... where our beds and TV... is]].

--->'''Milhouse''': And if you say you're a vampire, you get a free small soda at the movies!
* BadBoss: Humorously referenced. When Lisa tells Homer that he must stake Burns through the heart as he's sleeping in order to undo all the evil the vampires have done, Homer is pretty eager to do so - not because Burns turned Bart into a vampire, but simply because he's Homer's boss, and killing him would be "[living] out the American Dream." But it's no use: Homer does kill Burns, but just after he has appeared to die - and literally one second before he dissolves into dust - Burns very briefly comes back from the dead just to say "You're fired" - drawing a "D'oh!" from Homer.

--> '''Bart''': ''(After Lisa rejects his offer)'' Lisa, you don't have a choice here. ''(He rears back and flies through the window, pinning Lisa to the bed and flashing his fangs, ready to bite her).''

--> '''Lisa''': Dad, do you notice anything strange?\\
'''Homer''': Yeah, his hairdo looks so queer.\\
'''Burns''': ''I heard that!''\\
'''Homer''': [[BlatantLies It was the boy!]]

-->'''Homer''': "Beer kills brain cells." Now let's go back to that... building... thingy... where our beds and TV... is.

--> '''Lisa''': ''(Upon seeing Wiggum having the police destroy an Egyptian museum wing)'' No! No! They're wrong! The creature they seek is the walking undead! Nosferatu! Das Vampyr!

--> '''Lisa''': A vampire!

-->'''Burns''': ''(after Kent reports about him buying a blood bank)'' Oh I'm ''very'' excited about this deal! I...Oh.''(Notices blood on the corner of his mouth. He wipes it off with his finger then slurps it up)''...Precious blood.

'''Vampires:''':''[Waiting at the bottom for him]'' RAAAAH!\\

--> '''Lisa''': Mom! Dad! Mr. Burns is a vampire! And he has Bart!
--> '''Burns''': ''(Comes in with a clearly bitten Bart)'' Why Bart's right here.
--> '''Bart''': ''(Droning, having a blank expression)'' Hello mother, hello father, I missed you during my uneventful absence.

-->'''Lisa:''' ''(After the family reveals they're vampires)'' What?! No, we killed Mr. Burns!\\

'''Lisa:''' ''(Gasps and points) You're'' the head vampire?\\
'''Marge:''' No, ''I'm'' the head vampire. ''(Laughs ghoulishly)''\\

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: It's shown that Bart turns a few of his fellow schoolmates such as Milhouse, Martin, Ralph and Jamie into vampires. But after Bart's attempted attack on Lisa fails and he flees, we don't see what became of them.

* WholePlotReference: To the classic ''[[Series/TheTwilightZone Twilight Zone]]'' episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet."

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** The segment with Bart and the gremlin is a homage to the famous ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E5TreehouseOfHorrorIV Nightmare at 20,000 Feet]]". The gremlin itself bears a closer resemblance to the version seen in ''Film/TwilightZoneTheMovie''.

** During Marge's warning, she suggests that people instead listen to the old ''Radio/WarOfTheWorlds'' on NPR.

** The segment with Bart and the gremlin is a homage to the famous ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode "Nightmare at 20.000 Feet". The gremlin itself bears a closer resemblance to the version seen in ''Film/TwilightZoneTheMovie''.

** Homer being strapped into a chair with a device holding his mouth open as he's force-fed until he's obese is a direct homage to the infamous feeding sequence in ''WesternAnimation/{{Pigs Is Pigs|1937}}''. The scene is Matt Groening's favorite sequence in animated history.

* ShownTheir Work: Benedict Arnold is shown wearing a Continental Army uniform and John Wilkes Booth walks with a cane.

* BadBoss: Humorously referenced. When Lisa tells Homer that he must stake Burns through the heart as he's sleeping in order to undo all the evil the vampires have done, Homer is pretty eager to do so - not because Burns turned Bart into a vampire, but simply because [[AcceptableTargets he's Homer's boss]], and killing him would be "[living] out the American Dream." But it's no use: Homer does kill Burns, but just after he has appeared to die - and literally one second before he dissolves into dust - Burns very briefly comes back from the dead just to say "You're fired" - drawing a "D'oh!" from Homer.

** Not only is Bart sent to the looney bin ''after'' being proven right about the gremlin ''and'' knocking it off the buss with the flare, but the segment ends with the gremlin now on Bart's ambulance... ''and holding Flanders' still alive head''.